Cozy autumn Postcrossing arrival

This dandy Postcrossing card was sent to me by Ashley in Florida to mark World Postcard Day 2026. Ashley loves books and Halloween, and despises AI. So she's a very good egg. The artwork on the postcard is by Lydia Jean and you can check out all of their autumn-themed drawings and designs at the appropriately named LittleGhostShack.com. Support creators! 

I'll be highlighting more mail in the coming days, alongside the other Mild Fear 2026 posts. We're halfway to Halloween already.

Scholastic book: "Spook"

• Title: Spook
• Author: Jane Little. I can't find much biographical information about her. Her other books included Sneaker Hill and The Philosopher's Stone.
• Illustrator: Suzanne Kesteloo Larsen. I can't find much on her, either. Help would be welcome! For both Little and Kesteloo Larsen, it seems that Spook is their best-known work.
• Back cover excerpt: "Poor Spook! He's the only dog in the world who belongs to a witch! And she'd rather have a cat. No wonder she's so mean to him."
• Publisher: Scholastic Book Services (TX 1001)
• Cover price: 45 cents
• Year: 1965. This is Scholastic's 1967 second printing
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 80
• Little's dedication: "To my family, with love" 
• Excerpt #1: Then abruptly she stopped dead in her tracks, a look of horror settling on her face. Spook craned his neck around the curtain to see what she was staring at. It was a large marmalade cat, strolling down the hall directly toward Grimalda.
• Excerpt #2: When he stopped at last, he was an enormous spider on eight gigantic legs, with two fangs curved like buffalo horns and eight eyes as big as soup plates.
• Is this book kind of creepy? For a kid's book, absolutely.
• Rating on Goodreads: 4.26 stars (out of 5)
• Goodreads review excerpt: In 2018, Kati wrote: "This is such an adorable book! My boyfriend told me it was one of the first *actual books* he ever read, and I love anything even remotely related to Halloween, so I just started reading it one day when I saw it hanging around at home. It’s so sweet. Grimalda is a 'mean, scary' witch without actually being an animal abuser toward little Spook. She’s just butthurt cuz she’s allergic to cats."
• Is that the first appearance of "butthurt" on Papergreat? Yes indeed.
• Rating on Amazon: 4.6 stars (out of 5)
• Amazon review excerpt: In 2011, Sherry wrote: "It is a cute little book, but the reason I only gave it 3 stars is because I do not care for witches."
• Other reviews and memories: A grinchy writeup by Kirkus, a 2017 review on Vintage Toys and Books, and a Facebook post on Vintage Scholastic Books last month featuring a lot of comments.
• And one final view: Writing on the Postcards from La-La Land blog in 2011, NeriSiren, a self-described "Bookwyrm of the Benthic Zone," concludes: "Spook is a very entertaining story, with villains who are goofy enough to offset their scary qualities. Other than a few exposition-heavy passages, the dialogue is believable and the descriptions create vivid, tangible scenes. This would be a fun book for teachers to read to their students the week before Halloween, a chapter or two each day."

Here are some more of the illustrations by Suzanne Kesteloo Larsen:

And here's Mercury posing with Spook. She's always great for this specific season.

Time-worn and still-unsettling paperback work of art

In years past, I've written about how damaged postcards, photos and other pieces of ephemera can gain a different kind of beauty from the ravages of time. The same is true today with this paperback cover. (Maybe it's best to read this post at night, in the dark, with only the light from your laptop screen glowing outward.)

It's the stated August 1976 first Signet printing of Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot in paperback.

This was only Stephen King's second novel, after Carrie. His name doesn't even appear on the cover. As Ron Gabriel notes in a blog post: "The all-black cover was unusual in that there was no title on the front, only an embossed illustration of a girl with a tiny red drop in the corner of her mouth. The title was on the spine and back cover, and the blurb was cryptic: 'The town knew darkness ... but no one dared talk about the high, sweet, evil laughter of a child ... and the sucking sounds...'"

Gabriel adds: "I salute the daring cover art director and marketing team for offering a novel with no title on the front, and delicious, high-level taste and restraint."

I'm sure this embossed cover looked amazing when new and shiny 50 years ago. It's extremely hard to find a copy in such condition. Time and readers — many, many, many readers — have led to soiling, creases, tears, pricetag residue and other blemishes for these first paperbacks. And I think that now gives them a different kind of terrifying beauty. It's a thinning membrane over half-century-old scares. The deterioration, the rot, has only made the warning more ominous. Would you pick it up and read it in the dark of night, while alone, while the autumn wind — or is it wind? — rattles the windows?

Related posts

• Water-stained work of art: Hudson & Manhattan Subway Terminal
• Water-stained work of art II: Princes Point on Orr's Island
• Water-stained work of art III: Mt. Washington Club, Maryland
• Page from an old library book
• A water-stained postcard memory and fiddling with technology
• Cabinet card from Pottstown, Pennsylvania
• Family member and friend in damaged old photo
• Peering at (literal) scary book from Germany in 1920

Susy Smith's "Today's Witches" (1970)

There was a time when I was thinking about doing a deep dive on paranormal author Susy Smith (1911-2001). It does turn out that she had an extensive Arizona connection, as this biography of her on Occult World notes:

"In 1971, she moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she founded and became the first president of the Survival Research Foundation, which is still in operation. On January 11, 1997, the Susy Smith Project in the Human Energy Systems Laboratory at the University of Arizona was created by Drs. Gary E Schwartz and Linda G. S. Russek to continue her research. Russek called Smith 'the matriarch of survival research.' They persuaded Smith to write her 30th book, which became The Afterlife Codes (2000), a recount of the highlights of her life’s inquiry into survival."

Forgoing the deep dive, I'm going to downsize and keep just a few of her greatest hits on my shelf. But before I get Today's Witches into someone else's hands, I wanted to write a little about it here today, for posterity.

The Susy Smith book was published in 1970, during an era when interest in witchcraft was being conjured in many places — intertwined at times with the counterculture movement, the feminist movement and a broader fascination with occultism and alternative spirituality.

Published by Prentice Hall, the 180-page book has this spicy secondary text on the cover: "How hippies, jetsetters, and ordinary housewives are using the occult for good — or evil." The equally spicy dust jacket text cites Lewis VanDercar, Anton LaVey, Sybil Leek and others. The bibliography mentions Sharon Tate, author Richard Cavendish and Aleister Crowley. (And now this post is going to pop up in a lot of awfully weird Google searches.)

I should note that the dust jacket design is by Claudia Kelly.

The book opens thusly:

"At the witches' stalls in the Sonoran Market in Mexico City I acquired an ajo macho. This is a 'virile' garlic to protect me from any evil spells that black witches anywhere might decide to try to place on me. I felt that having this was important before attempting to write a book about witchcraft. Perhaps after reading this book the reader will agree with me that no matter how much one does or does not believe in the dangers of black magic, it can't hurt to take precautionary measures. The existence of witchcraft in the world today is not something you question. It is something you either know about or you do not."

Susy Smith's book goes on to discuss witchcraft in the United States, Haiti, Mexico, England, Canada and worldwide, with some devil worship, drug use (marijuana and LSD) and murder thrown into the witches' brew.

Much of the book is an alarmist warning about all of that, the devilry and drugs. The author concludes firmly on the side of the good witches:

"When the time comes that it can be proved scientifically that the force of thought is a potent force, that the power of the mind is the strongest power of all, then we will realize the necessity of controlling our thinking by conscious effort. Until then, it appears that witches are among the few who are aware of this and are actively using it. It is necessary for us all to learn how to apply this universal mind force for good. We can become in tune with the positive elements just as the white witches are."

There are no reviews or comments about Today's Witches on Amazon or Goodreads, suggesting the book didn't leave much of a cultural footprint. But it certainly captured a moment in 1960s/1970s culture, when interest in witchcraft and the occult was attracting considerable attention.

Related posts

• Book cover: "Ghosts Around the House"
• Hans Holzer's "The Witchcraft Report"
• Cursed books? "That stuff is real, and not something to be trifled with"
• Stay-at-home shelfie #52
• Answering questions about my reading history and habits
• The Clayton book attic 

Dandy cover of Issue #9 of "Horror Monsters"

Here's the wonderfully horrifying cover of the Fall 1964 Issue #9 of Horror Monsters. This was the next-to-last issue of the magazine's existence. You can learn more about its short history in this 2024 post in which I showcased Issue #10.

The cover of this 35-cent issue features the Neanderthal Man from 1961's Valley of the Dragons (that may be Jack Elam under the makeup) and mentions the Vincent Price/Carol Ohmart classic The House on Haunted Hill, Lon Chaney Jr. in The Devil's Messenger, George Zucco, Mothra and 1956's The Black Sleep.

Below is the contents page, which notes that the members of the editorial staff were Sanzar Quasatoad, Quaszar Sanatoad, Santoad Zarquasar, Zarsatoad Sanqua and Toadzan Quasocar.

Spruce Street book: "The Ghost of Windy Hill"

In August I wrote about M for Mischief being one of the first books that I distinctly remember having, circa second grade. Well, there's at least one book I distinctly remember having even earlier than that. I had a copy of The Ghost of Windy Hill in my bedroom on Spruce Street in Montoursville when I was in first grade. It's not a cover you forget if you had this book during early childhood! Probably my first ghost-themed book. (This isn't that original, long-gone copy; it's one I came across a while back. And I just noticed that "69" on the back cover, which I'll see if I can gently rub off.)

This is the Weekly Reader Children's Book Club hardcover of The Ghost of Windy Hill, published by Thomas Y. Crowell of New York. The book, first published in 1968, was written by Clyde Robert Bulla (1914-2007) and illustrated by Don Bolognese. There have been other editions over the years, some with a different illustrator.

Illustrator Bolognese, by the way, talked about his long career in this 2022 interview and mentions a 1967 anti-war children's book he wrote and illustrated titled Once Upon a Mountain. 

The Ghost of Windy Hill is 84 pages, has numerous illustrations and is broken into 14 short chapters, one of which is titled "The Crazy Quilt." The story opens in a candle shop, as daylight is fading. It ends with a walk in the woods that includes a woman in a long, white dress. It's beloved by many, though some note that, while spooky at times, it doesn't quite rise to the level of "ghost story."

Here are some comments that I found sprinkled across Goodreads, Amazon and Facebook...

• The Ghost of Windy Hill was my favorite book as a little girl — my Granny had purchased the book for me through the Weekly Reader club for kids in elementary school
• I think any child who reads it will find it a fun read.
• The memorable aspect of "The Ghost of Windy Hill" is Bulla's portrayal of a warm, supportive family. 
• Simple, entertaining ghost story concerning a family who relocate to a country farmhouse for the summer and encounter rather strange situations. Eerie illustrations contribute to the very clever writing from Bulla. 
• The title of this story is very misleading. Of course there usually isn't really a ghost at the end of such stories but in this one there really isn't even a hint of one! 
• For a kids book it hits well above its weight class in creepiness.
• Great read for kids during the Halloween season. There is talk of a ghost but the main story centers around a family moving into a large farmhouse for the summer and in the end helping several of the new people they meet.
• This is what got me hooked on the kind of books I mainly read now.
• Started my lifelong love of horror! 

The Danbury Press: "Vampires, Zombies and Monster Men"

Ahh, the 1970s. A time when you could just go around advertising occult volumes featuring the Sigil of Baphomet on the back cover. Is it any wonder that the Satanic Panic took hold a few years later?

Featured today is the hardcover volume titled Vampires, Zombies, and Monster Men, which was part of The Danbury Press series called The Supernatural. The Danbury Press was a division of Grolier, those nice, wholesome folks who published the encyclopedias found in school and home libraries. 

Published in 1975 and 1976, the 21-volume set included these tantalizing volumes:

• Alchemy, the Ancient Science
• Atlantis and the Lost Lands
• The Cosmic Influence
• Dream Worlds
• Enigmas and Mysteries
• The Geller Phenomenon
• Ghosts and Poltergeists
• Healing Without Medicine
• Magic, Words, and Numbers
• Minds Without Boundaries
• Monsters and Mythic Beasts
• Mysterious Powers
• Psychic Voyages
• Signs of Things to Come
• Spirits and Spirit Worlds
• Strange Cults
• Vampires, Zombies, and Monster Men
• Visitors from Outer Space
• Wisdom from Afar
• Witches and Witchcraft
• Guide and Index

I only have this one, plus Ghosts and Poltergeists and Enigmas and Mysteries, all three picked up on the cheap at a Goodwill store. They aren't particularly scarce, but most online sellers put them into bulk lots.

This hardcover volume is 144 pages and filled with photos and illustrations, about half of which are in full color. The listed author is Daniel Farson (1927-1997), whose grand-uncle, appropriately, was Bram Stoker. Colin Wilson and Uri Geller are listed as editorial consultants, and I think we should give a shout-out to the folks who designed this fine-looking volume:

• Series coordinator: John Mason
• Design director: Günter Radtke
• Picture editor: Peter Cook
• Editors: Mary Senechal, Eleanor Van Zandt
• Copy editor: Mitzi Bales
• Research: Frances Vargo
• General consultant: Beppie Harrison

The volume features two chapters on vampires and individual chapters on lycanthropy, traditional zombies, fairies, wild men in the woods and humans who proved more evil than any folkloric monster could ever be.

The interior images are a mixture of cinematic frights and pure gruesomeness from across history. A sampling includes Bela Lugosi, Edvard Munch's "vampire," Count Dracula-themed ice cream, David Farrant, the Croglin Grange vampire, actress Theda Bara, Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee (of course), Sabine Baring-Gould's The Book of Were-wolves, Peter Stumpp (spelled in the book as Peter Stubb), Michael Landon as a teen wolf, voodoo dancers, the Cottingley Fairies, the pixies of Cornwall, Richard Dadd's painting The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke, François Truffaut's L'Enfant sauvage, serial killer Peter Kürten, Jack the Giant Killer, Elizabeth Báthory, and the unsettling closing image of Francisco Goya's Saturn Devouring His Son.

There's a lot packed in there! I suspect that an 8- or 9-year-old who got their hands on this in the mid-1970s would have had nightmares for months. Scott Davis agrees in his Amazon review: "I read through an early version of this book when I was a kid. My uncle had it. Scared the living bejeezus out of me! A great read if you like monster myths."

I'm kind of surprised that there don't seem to be any substantial articles or blog posts about Danbury Press' The Supernatural series online. If you have any thoughts or memories on this or any other volume, please leave a comment. 

And now I've fulfilled a life goal of photographing a skunk alongside the Cottingley Fairies.

A hilarious cover design for Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"

I stumbled across this on eBay last night and had a good laugh. It's described as the 1990 Ediciones Quinto Sol Spanish-language paperback edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. We have Boris Karloff as The Monster, making a very dumb face. Below his head are cartoon versions of his stitched-together hands, with a bundle of yellow flowers in each hand. Why you'd reference that scene from the 1931 movie, I have no idea. I'd love to know the story behind this cover design.

It brings this to mind, of course: